


blame it on the chilli oil

by hoeunki



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Cooking, Fluff and Humor, Lucas is a cutie who's just a little bit clumsy, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-21
Updated: 2018-07-21
Packaged: 2019-06-13 22:38:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15374934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hoeunki/pseuds/hoeunki
Summary: How to impress the guy you like in three simple steps, a guide by Lucas Wong:1. Make him laugh as much as you can.2. Successfully cook for him.3. Get your friends to say nice things about you when he’s around.He doesn’t quite get past step two.





	blame it on the chilli oil

“Please, ge.”

Lucas bounces at the foot of his roommate’s bed, poking his feet repeatedly. He’s been bothering Kun for at least half an hour now, pestering him for assistance in the Greatest Trial of His Life (otherwise known as his mission to sweep Kim Jungwoo off his feet). It’s been in progress for a while, and after consulting Ten for advice, Lucas decided that all he needed to do was to prove just how boyfriend material he was. He had then proceeded to take suggestions for his next step from the rest of the members.

_“Buy him flowers,” suggested Yuta._

_“Or a stuffed animal,” said Jaemin._

_“Serenade him,” was Jaehyun’s advice._

_Donghyuck snorted. “Take him to meet your parents or something.”_

_“Go to a dog cafe together,” Renjun proposed._

_“Watch all the shows he watches so you can have intellectual conversations about them,” was what Chenle recommended._

_“Kiss him,” Ten advised simply._

In the end, it was Doyoung who had the most sensible answer.

“Why don’t you cook for him?” the vocalist said. Lucas thought it was a brilliant idea! Of course! Cooking was the ultimate sign of being a capable partner, after all. He would surely win Jungwoo’s heart by preparing a meal for him. But when he went to the kitchen that afternoon, he was hit with the realization that there was a tiny issue with that plan.

Lucas didn’t know how to cook.

Well he did, but his expertise was limited to fried rice and that one time he did a cooking Vlive with Mark and the hyungs. It was less than impressive to say the least.

But it was fine, of course. Lucas wasn’t one to let such trivial things deter his master plan. He just so happened to have a very capable roommate who coincidentally, was a master chef. So here he was, attempting to persuade Kun to contribute to a Highly Important Cause.

Kun shakes his head for the millionth time. “Xuxi. I told you I’m not getting involved with you and Jungwoo.” He flips the page of the book he’s reading.

Lucas pouts. “Who said this was about Jungwoo? I just want to gain an important life skill, that’s all (and maybe a boyfriend in the process, but Kun didn’t need to know that). Cooking is like...a gift from the gods, right? They’ve blessed you with these abilities so that you can help sad guys like me. Y’know, character building and stuff. Survival skills.”

There’s a pause before Kun raises one eyebrow. Lucas groans and flops down next to him, making the pillows bounce. The springs of the mattress dig into his ribs as he does so.

“...Fine. I do want to impress him.” Kun coos at this, ruffling Lucas’ hair affectionately. Lucas feels himself blush and shoves his face into a pillow. It’s a little embarrassing, confessing his feelings out loud like this. But Kun is the nicest guy he knows, and they’ve sworn that all secrets revealed in the sanctity of their bedroom are not allowed to be shared with anyone, not even Taeyong, without permission from the other.  

Lucas looks up at the older boy, blinking at him with his meticulously honed puppy eyes. He can practically see Kun’s resolve fading away by the second.

“ _Pretty please, Kun-ge?_ ”

His roommate ponders this seriously for about fifteen seconds before he sighs and closes his book.

“Alright.”

The power of his puppy eyes are real, and he knows it. Lucas makes a mental note to give Chenle a bar of chocolate for helping him practice it.

Lucas whoops and stands up, jumping up and down on the squeaky mattress as he celebrates his latest achievement. Kun flicks his ankles and commands him to sit down.

“Calm down, Xuxi. But if you really are serious about this, I think we should start with something relatively simple…”

***

The recipe to Kung Pao chicken seems easy enough for him, or at least in the way Kun explained it a half hour ago. Too lazy to go down to the supermarket, Lucas calls Taeyong (who he knows goes grocery shopping at this time of the week) and begs him to buy some chicken breast.

Taeyong returns shortly with a bag of chicken breast in hand. He hands it to Lucas and wishes him good luck, patting the taller boy on the back before returning to his dorm. Lucas checks the clock. 6:18 pm. Jungwoo’s probably still gaming with the Dreamies and probably won’t be back for another half hour or so, which gives him plenty of time to cook.  

Everything goes pretty smoothly, which is a pleasant surprise to Lucas. His knife movements are much slower in comparison to Kun’s, but he observes and follows diligently. Cooking’s pretty fun, he realizes, as he takes the marinated chicken out of the fridge and heats up some oil on the wok.

Lucas is chopping garlic when he hears the front door open. He freezes, not expecting Jungwoo to be back so soon. When he rounds the corner, Lucas inhales and tries not squeal at the way Jungwoo’s eyes light up at the sight of him.

“Xuxi!” He greets, in the softest of voices. Lucas internally swoons. He’s just. So. Adorable.

Jungwoo spots Kun at the stove, cooking the chicken. “Hi hyung. What are you guys cooking?”

Kun and Jungwoo launch into a little conversation, and Lucas pretends not to see Jungwoo repeatedly glancing over at him. He hears the older boy laugh as Kun informs him of Lucas’ plan to become a masterchef.

“I don’t think anyone will be as good as you and Taeyong-hyung, though.” Lucas feels his heart sting a little with jealousy and runs a hand through his hair. He rolls up his sleeves and chops the chilli with a newfound determination. He’ll show them. He’ll surpass Kun and Taeyong, both in skill _and_ in looks. A tiny voice in his head that sounds suspiciously like Donghyuck scoffs at that.

“Oh yeah,” Kun suddenly says, startling Lucas out of his reverie. “Can you get the peanuts? I’m gonna add the sauce soon.”

Lucas shuffles over to the cabinets and searches them for peanuts. There’s a bunch of random cans and condiments inside (some of which look pretty expired) but there’s no sign of the nuts.

When he doesn’t find any, he turns back to Kun. “I don’t think we have any,” he frowns.  

Kun scratches his head and combs through the fridge and the rest of the cabinets for peanuts. “That’s weird,” he mumbles. “I’m pretty sure I saw some--aha!” He takes out a jar with a red lid.

From afar, the contents of of the jar look sinister. It’s filled to the brim with dark liquid and Lucas can barely make out the objects inside. As he gets closer, he reads the Chinese label and realizes that it’s just a jar of peanuts in chilli oil.

“These will have to do,” Kun tells him. He hands over the jar for Lucas to open.

Now, the upside to having massive hands is that it makes it easier to open things. (“Lucas, bring your yaoi hands over here,” Yuta would always say.) So he’s surprised when the jar doesn’t immediately open with one firm twist. Lucas furrows his eyebrows and tries again, a not-so-attractive grunt escaping him.

Jungwoo, who’s drinking a glass of water, puts his cup down and wipes his hands on his pants. “Do you...need help?” he asks gently.

Lucas glances over at the handsome boy. His mission for tonight was to impress Jungwoo but right now he's looking like a complete idiot who can’t even open a tiny jar. There’s no way in hell he’s going to surrender. Not now.

“No Jungwoo, it’s fine. I got this,” he says through gritted teeth. Why were container lids so damn hard to open? He steadies himself against the counter, holding the jar firmly as he tries to get the cover off once more. Lucas feels himself trembling slightly but it’s fine. At the angle that Jungwoo currently stands at, he should be able to admire Lucas’ flexing bicep.

The lid begins to give way and turns ever so slightly. Lucas grins at Jungwoo.

“See, Woo? It’s coming off. I just...need...a little more…” he doesn’t even notice Jungwoo moving closer to him.

“...STRENGTH!”  

Kun gasps as the lid flies out of Lucas’ grip and clatters across the floor, leaving a streak of chilli oil. Lucas’ hand swings loosely as a result of all the force he was using, hitting the nearest thing with alarming speed and power.

And it’s clear that whoever is managing the universe has some vendetta against Lucas or something because the nearest thing just so happens to be Kim Jungwoo’s nose.

“Ow!” Jungwoo screams, clutching his nose with both hands. He stumbles backwards and Lucas, with his last remaining braincell, goes after Jungwoo to grab him so that he doesn’t slam into the fridge.

Lucas gets about three steps when he slips on the spilled chilli oil.

_Well, shit._

He barrels straight into Jungwoo, sending the both of them crashing into a heap right in front of Kun’s feet. The eldest looks down, unimpressed, but quickly helps Jungwoo up when the younger boy removes his hands from his face.

“Oh my gosh, you’re bleeding!” Kun cries.

Lucas whips his head up so fast, he hears something crack. Sure enough, there’s a steady stream of blood flowing from Jungwoo’s nose, dribbling down his neck and staining his shirt. Lucas is mildly impressed with his strength but mentally slaps himself for thinking that.

_Focus, Wong. You just punched the most beautiful boy in the world right in the face and he’s BLEEDING._

He scrambles to his feet and grabs a roll of paper towels and a box of tissues. “Ge, I think you should finish cooking. I’ll uh...take care of this.” He leads Jungwoo by the arm, setting him down carefully on the sofa. There’s blood leaking from both of his nostrils, and Lucas is awash with guilt as he reaches for a tissue and presses lightly against Jungwoo’s nose.

Jungwoo flinches a little when Lucas presses a bit too hard. He’s probably going to bruise and Doyoung is _not_ going to be happy. He can already hear the vocalist scolding him.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbles, bowing his head in apology. “It looks pretty bad.”

Jungwoo shakes his head and smiles slightly. “It’s okay, accidents happen. Can you get me some ice?”

Lucas practically sprints to the freezer.

Upon his return, the blood flowing from Jungwoo’s nose seems to have subsided. Lucas wraps a piece of ice in two layers of paper towel and is about to give it to Jungwoo when the older boy reaches for his hand instead and guides it to a bruised spot. His skin is unbelievably soft, Lucas thinks, as he revels in the warmth of Jungwoo’s hand.

“Thanks for helping Kun-hyung cook, Xuxi.”

Lucas blinks, surprised by the sudden compliment. Jungwoo smiles sweetly and Lucas is pretty sure his heart melts in that instant. “O-oh, I...ah...no problem?” It comes out more like a question than a proper response. Jungwoo giggles, the bell-like sound striking his heart immediately.

_Be still, my beating heart._

“Do you like guys that can cook?” Lucas blurted. Jungwoo paused and his eyes widened.

_ABORT. ABORT MISSION. Error 404: Lucas’ Brain not found._

“Why do you ask?” Jungwoo questions, a confused tilt to his head.

Lucas scratches his neck.  “Um, no reason. I was just...wondering.” He inwardly hopes for Kun to finish cooking so that he can save him from this mess. Or maybe the ground could split open and swallow him whole. Both seem like equally attractive options at this point.

Jungwoo stares at him silently, which does absolutely nothing to calm the blush on Lucas’ cheeks. A knowing smile makes its way onto his face and his eyes twinkle in delight.

“Were you...trying to impress me, Wong Yukhei?”

Lucas groans, removing his hand from Jungwoo’s nose. This is the end. His crush knows how lame he is. Now he’s going to face the most embarrassing rejection known to man and he'll have to spend the rest of his days cocooned in his blanket, listening to Daniel Caesar songs as he cries over Jungwoo.

He can barely lift his head to face Jungwoo. “Maybe I was,” he mutters.

Jungwoo opens his mouth to say something but is cut off by Kun, who yells for Lucas to clean up the floor. Grateful for the distraction, Lucas quickly apologises to Jungwoo and goes to the kitchen.

Dinner is as awkward as it gets. Chenle invites himself over for the chicken but doesn't quite pick up on the odd atmosphere, chattering away as usual. Kun tries his best to keep the conversation going, but Lucas keeps his eyes focused on his plate and can hardly pay attention to what they're saying.

He basically confessed to the boy he's been pining after since the day they met, and said boy is acting as if nothing even happened. When Lucas glances up across the table, Jungwoo is leaning on his elbow and laughing at Chenle’s story.

“The chicken is really good, ge!” Chenle chirps, grinning at Kun. Kun shakes his head and gestures to Lucas. “Xuxi did most of it. I just supervised.”

Chenle’s mouth drops open. “Wow, that's awesome! He's really good, right Jungwoo-hyung?”

Lucas looks at Jungwoo, whose lips are curved in a small smile. “I agree.”

***

It's Lucas’ turn to do the dishes. He stands by the sink, scrubbing away at the plates and utensils and tries not to think about Jungwoo and his failed mission to impress him.

“I never answered your question,” a small voice whispers, and then there's a body sliding up next to him. Their elbows brush as Jungwoo takes another sponge and picks up a glass.

Lucas doesn't really know what Jungwoo’s talking about, but lets him continue.

“I do like guys that can cook.”

Lucas stops, staring down at Jungwoo, who rinses the glass and places it on the drying rack. He washes his hands and turns to look Lucas in the eye.

“But you know...I also like guys with big ears.”

“...W-what?” Lucas dumbly stutters.

Jungwoo continues. “I like guys who are funny, guys who have nice eyes and big hands and deep voices who are a little taller than me.”

Lucas’ head begins to spin as Jungwoo steps closer to him and fiddles with his sleeve. There's a faint pink tint on his cheeks.

“I like guys who are handsome and kind and can speak a bunch of languages, guys who have dorky high pitched laughs and can never stop picking their nose on camera.”

Jungwoo smiles shyly and it takes all of Lucas’ self control to not kiss him.

“What I'm trying to say is…I like you, Lucas. And you don't need to impress me or anything. I like you just the way you are,” he admits, leaning up to kiss his cheek softly.”

Lucas is sure his heart is beating fast enough to burst out of his chest. “Are you sure I didn't punch you too hard?” he tentatively asks.

Jungwoo laughs loudly, and Lucas feels his heart swell. How lucky he is, to have the prettiest boy in the universe reciprocate his feelings. Jungwoo wraps an arm around Lucas’ waist and leans his head on his shoulder. His shampoo smells like flowers.

“Hurry up and finish washing so we can cuddle and watch movies together, idiot.”

“Anything for you, Jungwoo.”

**Author's Note:**

> my first NCT fic! this was inspired by an incident yesterday, when my sister and I couldn't open a stupid jar of salsa and I said "imagine if Lucas was here. He'd have no problem opening it with his yaoi hands." 
> 
> i haven't written anything in a long time and this is unbeta-ed so :P 
> 
> come yell at me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/takadactyl) or leave a comment below <3


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